Ref. Ares(2016)1564602 - 01/04/2016
Ref. Ares(2017)2872363 - 08/06/2017
EUROPEAN COMMISSION
MAAC 2016-011
Directorate-General for Trade
Directorate G - Trade Strategy and Analysis, Market Access
Market Access, Industry, Energy and Raw Materials
Brussels, 1 April 2016
All redactions marked with "*" are made under Art. 4.1(a)
All redactions marked with "* * " are made under Art. 4.2.
DRAFT MINUTES
MARKET ACCESS ADVISORY COMMITTEE
Building Charlemagne, room JENK
Thursday 17 March 2016, 14:30 – 17:30
1. APPROVAL OF THE DRAFT AGENDA (MAAC 2016 – 009)
The agenda was adopted without any addition.
2.
ANNOUNCEMENTS FROM THE CHAIR
The
Chair informed the Committee about the following upcoming WTO Trade Policy
Reviews:
- Ukraine on 19 and 21 April 2016; deadline to send input to DG Trade 25 March
- Albania on 18 and 13 May 2016; deadline to send input to DG Trade 4 April
The COM further informed the Committee about the EU-US SME Workshop which will take
place in Tallin on 2-3 June 2016.
3. MODERNISATION OF THE EU-TURKEY CUSTOMS UNION:
COM briefed the Committee on the latest developments in regard to the negotiations with
Turkey in view of updating the EU-Turkey CU and enhancing the EU-Turkey trade relations
to include areas currently not covered in the CU agreement, such as services and public
procurement. COM informed about the effective launching of a public consultation in the
context of an external impact assessment study and indicated the deadline to reply to the
survey (9 June 2016).
MS and BU welcomed the modernisation of the EU-Turkey CU and supported the COM
actions.
asked about the company carrying out the study,
and
asked whether
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.
asked whether MS will have the possibility to
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comment on the study before it is published. COM replied that the study and the IA are
planned to be published following the Decision of the College on the negotiating mandate
(the IA is attached to the negotiating mandate to be submitted to the College).
asked
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whether discriminatory market access issues will be treated in the negotiations. COM agreed
that it hoped to resolve some issues, however, this was not a prerequisite for the negotiations.
and
asked how the EU negotiation agenda, namely TTIP or GSP agreements would
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influence the negotiations. COM mentioned that the accession of TR to EU FTAs in general,
but to TTIP in particular, is a very important issue for TR that will need to be addressed.
Commission européenne, B-1049 Bruxelles / Europese Commissie, B-1049 Brussel - Belgium. Telephone: (32-2) 299 11 11.
4. FOLLOW-UP OF PREVIOUS MAAC MEETINGS:
4.1.
Turkey: imports of machinery
,
and
, supported by
,
,
,
and
, expressed
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their concern about problems that their businesses are having when importing manufactured
equipment and machinery into Turkey, reporting that Turkish authorities were requiring test
reports and other sensitive information, the provision of the name and address of the
distributor in the declaration of conformity and additional CE certification by a third party.
MS alleged that these problems were linked to TAREKS, a Turkish electronic risk based
import control system. MS and Industry urged the COM to take action.
COM provided a preliminary analysis of the case in the context of the EU Machinery
Directive 2006/42/EC and stressed that the Directive had to be implemented and applied by
Turkey in the framework of the CU in the same way as in the EU/EEA countries, and could
not be increased with other or additional requirements. COM further noted that this issue
could be addressed in the Machinery Administrative Cooperation (AdCo) Group integrated
by the national Market Surveillance authorities, which will meet in May (25-26, Brussels)
and in which Turkey will also participate. The Machinery AdCo Group is an informal
working party which meets twice per year in order to discuss sectorial market surveillance
issues and to agree on a common approach and practical procedures when carrying out
market surveillance activities, to prevent possible misinterpretations or even distortions in the
implementation of the Directive in the EU/EEA/CU countries. In this sense, COM asked the
Member States and the other interested parties to send their comments on the issue in the
incoming weeks (until mid-April) in order to collect all the relevant information concerning
the mentioned problems, to consolidate and to address them to the Machinery AdCo Group
(currently chaired by Switzerland).
4.2.
New rules from the US Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and
consequences for Eu patents: presented by IP Europe
* requested this item related to the adoption of US IPR policy changes with regard to
SEP’s (standard essential patents) in the standardisation context. IP Europe, which brings
together R&D intensive EU companies and research institutes committed to innovation,
presented this issue.
IP Europe explained that these changes will reduce dramatically the
royalty base for SEPs to a fraction of the cost of the electronic components implementing the
invention, which in turn means dramatically decreased returns on investments in SEP’s. It
will further rule out the possibility of seeking an injunction against SEP users who have not
signed a licence agreement and remove a major incentive (sometimes the only one) for SEP
users to negotiate in good faith. Given that the IEEE develop key standards such as WIFI,
participation in IEEE activities is essential for all market players and for SMEs in particular.
Although the new rules on the IEEE values come from the private sphere, they may be
considered as “administrative” directives closely linked to government actions.
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.
,
and
also expressed their concern.
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The
Chair confirmed that this was an important issue for SMEs and indicated that the COM
will analyse how to legally tackle the case. COM agreed to come back on this matter in a
forthcoming MAAC meeting.
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4.3.
Turkey: increase of tariffs for the imports of sweet corn
raised this case in previous MAAC meetings and asked the COM to interpret whether the
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increase of import duties for sweet corn from the EU was in breach of Turkey’s CU
obligations.
COM indicated that following its analysis based on Decision 1/95, PAPs are
covered by the CU but both sides can apply an Agricultural Element Duty (EA). TR has
revised the EA this year to provide a certain level of protection and calculated the new EA
based on WTO rates. COM noted that it was not in line with TR CU obligations to treat EU
as a preferential partner. The COM therefore sees no legal basis for Turkey to apply a
different duty or revise the EA and confirmed that the increased duty Turkey is applying
since January 2016 is not corresponding to the CU provisions. COM further informed that
the EU DEL in Ankara has raised the issue with local authorities and is waiting for the reply.
asked whether the fact that increased duties on sweet corn only apply to imports from the
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EU and not to Turkey’s other FTA partners constitutes a discrimination. COM noted that this
issue should be addressed in a bilateral context.
5.
KEY BARRIERS EXERCISE
Singapore: presentation of the final KB list
COM presented an updated KB list for Singapore. Following written comments from
and
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that BSE risk categorisation in Singapore continues to prevent some producers from
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exporting to Singapore, COM proposed to keep BSE among the key barriers, along with
regionalisation and deficient neighbouring rights for performers and phonogram producers.
COM thanked
for sharing its list of trade irritants with Singapore that includes limitations
to temporary entry of natural persons for business purposes and requirement of prior local
experience on government procurement. COM indicated both these issues are covered by the
FTA and should be solved once the FTA enters into force. On prior local experience in the
Singaporean market, this is a GPA+ element of the FTA and probably difficult to tackle in the
framework of the GPA. COM and
will look together into the issue.
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6.
PHILIPPINES: CONSULTATION WITH INDUSTRY ON FTA
COM gave a short update on the launch of FTA negotiations with the Philippines. COM
announced that an online industry questionnaire had just been made public in DG Trade's
website and asked Committee members to circulate it as widely as possible. Responding to
questions, COM indicated that the first round of negotiations would take place on 23-27 May
and the industry consultation would remain open until April 30.
7.
DEBRIEFING OF THE TBT COMMITTEE, 9-10 MARCH 2016, GENEVA
COM briefly introduced the new cases raised at the TBT Committee (China-Formula
Registration Regulation for Infant and Follow-up Formula (G/TBT/N/CHN/1165; India-
Draft Food safety and Standards (Alcoholic Beverages Standards) Regulations 2015
(G/TBT/N/IND/51) and Indonesia-Halal Products Assurance Law No 33 of 2014).
MS and BU thanked the Commission for having raised issues of their concerns.
In relation to the new case
'Formula Registration Regulation for Infant and Follow-Up
Formula' (G/TBT/N/CHN/1165), which was raised by Korea and received the support of the
EU,
enquired about the possible support of other countries. The COM indicated that
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and
supported EU and Korea on this case.
indicated that the
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regulation had recently been notified and comments had just been received, therefore they
would be looking into them before preparing a response.
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Thailand-Labelling of alcoholic drinks: The
and
asked for the latest
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developments on this case. The Commission explained that the Thai measure had been raised
at the TBT Committee. In addition, the EU held a meeting with Thailand together with other
Members (
,
,
,
and
). According to available
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information, at a meeting on 26 February 2016 between the Ministry of Public Health and the
(
), the Vice Minister of Public
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Health would have confirmed that the labelling Regulation and the guidance document were
unclear and unworkable. The Minister of Public Health and the Ministry of Commerce would
have made a “gentlemen’s agreement” about a way forward and a working group would be
convened for amending the labelling regulation and the guidance.
Stakeholders would be
consulted. In the meantime, while the labelling Regulation would remain, it would not be
enforced until the new amendments are made. Thailand could not confirm this information on
a revised version of the Regulation and could only advance that there is a policy discussion
ongoing. As regards current enforcement of the Regulation, Thailand explained that products
on the shelf should bear a sticker in case pictures or symbols would be considered contrary to
the Regulation, but that they can still be sold with the sticker. At the request of Thailand, the
Members addressed their concerns in written, but up to date, no reply has been received. As to
graphic health warnings, Thailand reported that it is still under consideration and that the
authorities cannot find a winner for the picture contest, since no picture meets the
requirements.
Indonesia-Regulation on sugar, salt and fat content information and health messages on
processed food: At the request of
, the COM explained that this case had
**
been raised both at the TBT Committee and bilaterally. Indonesia confirmed that the date of
application of Regulation 30/2013 has been postponed to 2019 and that guidelines would
probably be issued by that year.
,
,
and
reiterated their concerns about the
Cement certification case in Russia
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and asked about possible discrimination as restrictions are not applied to countries from the
Eurasian Union (
). The COM provided an update on the issue, raised both on the plenary
*
of the TBT Committee and bilaterally with the Russian authorities on the margins of the
Committee. The COM explained that Russia notified the amendment of the framework law,
including cement, RUS/48 – Government Resolution No. 930 of 03.09.2015 "On
amendments of the Single List of Goods Subject to Mandatory Certification", on 8 March
2016, just before the TBT Committee.
However, the measure was already adopted in September 2015 and it is applicable from 7
March 2016. Regarding the question of the EU about the usefulness of sending comments
when the measure is already adopted and applicable, Russia explained that these might be
helpful in case of revision. They justified the need for including cement on the single list of
goods subject to mandatory certification with the deteriorating quality of the cement in
Russia.
The Commission explained that it asked for clarification regarding GOST standard P 56836-
2016 “Validation of conformity. Rules of cement certification” and about the exact details
about the procedures applicable for Russian and foreign producers. As the representatives of
Russia could not provide any information on these questions in Geneva, it was agreed to
follow-up them in writing. The COM informed that the email was sent right after the TBT
Committee.
The COM also provided an update on the latest developments on the
India - Tyres
certification issue. The COM informed that while India did not provide any new information
on the marking fee and the bank guarantee, they informed the EU that the Conformity of
Production (COP) testing required in every three month is not in place anymore. It was
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replaced, by a new set of requirements, the ones that the EU raised in its speaking points.
Following the EU statement that these new requirements seem to be disproportionate and
costly, India informed that they are considering to revise these as well.
The COM informed that the Indian tyre case was raised on the bilateral meeting with
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as well.
asked whether the EU would consider further actions on the issue of the
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marking fee and the bank guarantee other than raising them at the TBT Committee.
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said that they might consider other avenues to deal with the issue.
The COM further provided an update on the development of the Saudi notifications
SAU/835 and SAU/907 (tyre labelling regulations). The Saudi Arabian authorities
provided a written reply to the EU comments on SAU/835 just before the TBT Committee.
The COM informed that on the bilateral meeting, Saudi Arabia stated that the additional
requirement that was accelerated for C2 tires was rolling resistance labelling and that the wet
grip labelling remains optional until 2018. Saudi Arabia confirmed that the other
requirements for C1 and C2 tyres were already applicable. Regarding the new Gulf
Cooperation Council measure concerning tyre labelling, Saudi Arabia confirmed that only
the notified measure is applicable in Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia offered assistance to find
out more about the GCC measure. The information on the optional wet grip labelling until
2018 is also confirmed by their reply on the EU comments sent.
On the question that the EU raised in relation to the "
Regulation for procedure of data
registration and issuance of the energy efficiency labels in vehicles and tires" the reasons
and justifications why the licence to print and use the labels is only valid for one year even if
the tyre model did not undergone any change in the meantime, Saudi Arabia stated that there
is a simplified renewal procedure each year after the initial registration.
8.
MARKET ACCESS CASES
8.1.
Brazil: canned peaches
At
’s request,
COM provided a short update on this case which relates to the 55% tariff
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on canned peaches, which is also Brazil’s WTO bound rate and remains on Brazil’s
Mercosur Common tariff (CET) exception list of 100 tariff lines. Brazil defends this
increased tariff is with social aims and linked to Brazil’s Family Farming Programme. COM
noted that the issue was raised at the EUDEL’s “Market Access Small Committees meeting”
on 3 March.
COM further indicated that due to the WTO compatibility of the measure the most adequate
forum for addressing the issue seems to be EU-Mercosur FTA negotiations.
8.2.
Tunisia: ceramics
reported about delays and various burdensome procedures and practices
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importers of ceramics and construction materials are facing, which would not be in line with
the Euro-Mediterranean Agreement. The approval to enter the market takes 6 weeks. The
technical requirements (“cahier des charges”) for ceramics are controlled on imports but not
applied to the local production. Importers have to pay a tax credit 10% of the imported value.
These excessive administrative procedures increase the costs for imports, including for
needed input to the local production process.
underlined the long time needed for import
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clearance and the Tunisian obligations under the Euro-Mediterranean Agreement, in
particular article 6.
COM confirmed the situation with regard to import procedures. The EUDEL is coordinating
with MS a dialogue with the involved Tunisian authorities to solve these excessive practices
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and the industry is asked to continue providing information for that dialogue. The EU and the
Delegation will raise this case in all high level meetings.
8.3.
Egypt: Rules governing the registration of the factories eligible to export their
products to Arab Republic of Egypt
The
COM briefed participants on the latest developments. At technical level, a detailed
analysis has been prepared by DG TRADE and shared with the EU DEL in Cairo (to be also
shared with MS in Cairo). The analysis focused on both legal and practical aspects, it also
tried to reflect concerns voiced by the stakeholders. DG TRADE invited the Egyptian
government to withdraw the measure or at least to postpone its implementation allowing for
an adequate review in line with Egypt's international obligations under the WTO and the
Association Agreement.
At political level, similar concerns were voiced by Commissioner Malmstrom in her letter to
Tareq Qabil, Egyptian Minister for Industry and Trade. According to the information
provided by the EU DEL in Cairo, the framework became applicable on 16th March 2016
despite the fact that until that date only two companies managed to complete the registration
procedure.
The COM also informed of TBT comments currently being prepared and invited participants
to send any additional relevant material by the beginning of the next week (deadline for EU
comments 01/04).
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
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reiterated their concerns and thanked the COM for its efforts.
8.4.
Belarus: market access restriction for construction material
At
’s request the
COM provided an update on this issue and reported that it was raised,
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among others, during COM’s visit in February in Minsk.
The COM drew the attention of Belarus to the need of complying with the WTO standards
already in the accession process, and requested the removal of regulations not compatible
with those standards.
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. The
COM informed however that contradictory signals from the Belarussian side were received
concerning timing and speed of Belarus’ works on the accession.
The COM assured that it will raise the issue of trade irritants in the future bilateral
meetings with Belarus (the next meeting is scheduled for April).
asked about the timing of launching the Trade Dialogue. COM noted that the scope of the
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Dialogues is being defined.
FOR MEMBER STATES ONLY
10. APPROVAL OF THE DRAFT MINUTES OF THE MAAC MEETING OF 18 FEBRUARY 2016
(MAAC 2016-008)
The minutes of the MAAC meeting in February 2016 were distributed on March 2016. A
revised version was circulated on 11 March following a comment from FR. The minutes
were adopted.
Any other business:
asked the COM to provide the list of the COM colleagues
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participating in the MAAC meetings.
DG TRADE, Unit G.3
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